Rating: 
Summary: A Great Read
Review: Intelligent and thoughtfully written are appropriate adjectives to use when describing Ursula Le Guin's work. Many of her scientific novels are as profound as they are fanciful."The Wizard of Earthsea" is the first in a trilogy of books begun in 1968. "The Earthsea Trilogy" has often been compared to Toklien's Lord Of The Rings and many times critiques have praised it has the greatest of the two. This first book in the trilogy begins the life story of a young boy called Duny at birth who is destined to become the greatest of all wizards in a world already renowned for its magic and power. Duny is a young headstrong boy who learns the first rudiments of magic from his aunt a witch. She begins to teach him minor weather control but most importantly she begins to instruct him in the true names of things. To know the true name of anything whether it is an object, an animal or a person gives you the power to control that entity. Using the knowledge that his aunt has imparted to him Duny saves his village from attackers. This brings him to the attention of the Mage Ogion. At the time of naming when one sheds his childhood name for his true name, Ogion bestows on Duny his true name Ged. However, since to know ones true name is to have power over that person the boy became known to the outside world as Sparrowhawk. Ged is impatient with his master's methods and when Ogion offers him the choice between staying with him or going to a famous school of wizards, he chooses to go to the school. There he meets his first rival Jasper and Vitch who will become his true friend. However, although his natural magical talent leads him to become a great student and his knowledge grows by leaps and bounds, so does his pride and anger. Ged in a moment of pride accidentally lets loose a dangerous shadow on the world. It is in the battle with this shadow that he comes to learn not only the true power of words but humility and duty. This book although written for adolescents will also appeal to adults who will appreciate the lessons taught in the story. Most children and teenagers may find the story a bit slow compared to current fantasy novels. Although children exposed to Harry Potter may enjoy the school of wizards and the interaction between Ged, Vetch and their rival Jasper. I must confess that although I like Le Guin's writing style and always appreciate her stories, I often lamented her treatment of women. In this book women are never equal to men. They are there to be avoided or protected. However, I do highly recommend this book because despite its minor flaws, it is fantasy at its best.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Original
Review: In A Wizard of Earthsea you will witness and accompany Sparrowhawk through what is to be his rite of passage. He discovers his true name while facing great challenges, such as an almost deadly battle with a terrifying and powerful creature, only to realize that the monster may only be his own shadow. This is a truly original story that quickly captures your attention, imagination and heart. It won't be any easy one to put down, and you won't be able to get you hands on the next book in the series fast enough. It is full of action and symbolism, and represents the authors exceptional ability to create things that the rest of us never dreamed of. This novel will not dissapoint.
Rating:
Summary: really great book
Review: i was introduced to ursula k. leguin just this year, and she has certainly become one of my favorite authors. her books aren't like typical fantasy, with some magic object of power and a big old quest, with plenty of fighting and killing on the way. i loved this book because of how well the author developed characters and how she portrays ged's transformation from a child to an adult. i also like the fact that the evil is conquered not in some huge and bloody battle, but by ged coming to terms with the good and bad sides of himself. i loved the description of nature and the sea, and i found all the different histories of the islands to be really interesting. this book hasn't gotten the credit it deserves, so i hope more people will read it.
Rating:
Summary: We have seen the enemy, and it is us
Review: I don't usually read sci/fantasy. However, suffering from a cold and lacking any other easy reading material in the house, my husband handed his copy of The Wizard of Earthsea. I didn't really think that I would like, but ended up pleasantly surprised. The Wizard of Earthsea is basically the story of a young man with exceptional talent and an equal measure of stupid pride. As you might expect, this stupid pride ends up getting the young man into trouble when he releases a 'something' from the underworld. Of course, the young man is then forced to 'go on quest' to force the dark shadow back into the underworld. In the end, the shadow ends up being himself and a valuable lesson is learned. While I wouldn't call this original material or fabulous writing, it is still well worth your time. The story is enjoyable and the characters likable. Being ill when I read it, I was able to finish it in the course of a day. This book would also make worthwhile reading for those who are young adults and not quite up to the challenge of The Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: The Wizard Of Earthsea
Review: I think this book is a great trilogy because it is filled with adventure and excitement. This book actually makes you feel like you are there with the characters inside the story. I would recommend this book to kids between the ages of eleven to eighteen.
Ged was once known as Sparrowhawk in his youth. He was the greatest known wizard of all of Earthsea. He was a reckless child that was hungry for power and knowledge. One day he learned of a life-long held secret and had loosened a shadow upon Earthsea.
He also tamed an ancient dragon because the city was afraid of the dragons were coming to eat their life stock. They were starving because they had not eaten for years. When the shadow was loosened it was going to conquer everything until Ged found a way to defeat the shadow.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book, wonderful narrator
Review: This is just a wonderful story, and it is masterfully interpreted and read by Ellison. I listened to this on my long commute each morning - and I found myself sitting in my car at the office parking lot....just to get a few more minutes of listening time!
Rating: 
Summary: Just to help you figure this out
Review: umm... a couple of ppl don't get how ged knew the shadow's name in the end. The reason is because the shadow is part of him so in the end, ged just says his own name to the shadow and everything is happy again. thats why i rated only three because after all that suspense, i didn't get it in the ned and a friend had to explain it. Who knows? I could be a ditz and im the only one who didn't get it???? Neway, it's an alright book but the descriptions are really, really boring so i just skipped them, heehee! worth reading if u can be bothered
Rating:
Summary: An epic fantasy!
Review: The first few pages of A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA was all it took to get me into it.The culture ;the magic;
everything.The details in EARTHSEA'S politics weren't boring
; but rather interesting.The way magic works is unique and well thought out.I couldn't keep my face out of it!
Rating:
Summary: an amazing book!!!
Review: This is the story of a young boy named Sparrowhawk. His true name is revealed to be Ged, and he journeys to be trained as a wizard at a school. He becomes a rival with Jasper and a friend with Vitch. This rivalry results in the releasing of a strong shadow and the death of a loved one. He runs from the shadow for most of his life. He then chases it with Vitch to the ends of the Earth.
A great book, a story of hate and frienship, sadness and fear, an unbelievable outcome, and much more. I highly recomend this book to any fantasy or sci-fi fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A Boring Read for Fantasy Lovers
Review: 'A Wizard of Earthsea' is a book I did not enjoy. It starts out with a young boy named Sparrowhawk who is later named Ged. This is the first part I did not like about it. He is renamed and not even his family knows his name because if somebody knows your name they have complete power over you, Ged was able to defeat the shadow because he knew its name. This made absolutely no sense whatsoever to me. He is then taken away to learn magic from a teacher who is a stranger, who is the one who named him even though, nobody knew the man. Ged was taken away by the man because he had learned magic from his aunt who was sort of strange. He was taught by her to call birds down from the skies. The next part that I didn't like was magic was more of a secret language than special powers. Rather than having to possess any kind of power you just had to say a secret word. I enjoy books with real magic. In this anyone who knew the word could do magic, I think the person should have to have a power. Ged then goes to school for magic where he becomes arrogant and flaunts his power. He is one day trying to raise the dead to prove himself, and ends up raising a shadow. That part I didn't like either, the shadow simply came out of a hole in the air, scratched Ged, and was chased away. I think the action scene could have been a little better, they could have had a huge fight and described the moves rather than a line or two or nothing. Another action scene was with the dragon, which was horrible because he killed them all in the same way, and then persuaded the mother dragon not to kill lots of people. Another part that was not well thought out was, in dragon speak you could not lie. It is impossible to have a language in which you could not say words because they were not true. The only good part was a big action scene of him running from a shadow through the woods. This part was full of suspense and you wanted to find out what happened. Then he finally got away to a castle (that he ran to) and was tricked and had to run from there. Then Le Guinn, the author, made a surprise ending, that the shadow was really the dark side of him. But being as this was a fantasy/ magic/ action book, there should not have been a surprise. Those are the kind of books that have a good side and a bad side (another bad part, Le Guinn didn't make sides she made a one vs. one battle). Usually the book ends in one final win it all or lose it all battle. This ended with him chasing the shadow (which was good) and saying its name. A book like this always ends in a real battle. All in all it was a slow read and I will never read another book in the series I do not recommend the book.
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